The Horses of Peter Nicolai Arbo

Peter Nicolai Arbo was a Norwegian artist well known for chronicling Norwegian history and Norse mythology in his work. The romance of this theme can be found in almost all of his art, however it is his battle scenes & valiant warrior portraits that really shine through in his work.

Finding His Legs

As a student he studied at the Düsseldorf School of Art under Karl Ferdinand Sohn who was an animal & battle painter. Karl’s work clearly had an affect on young Peter who went on to paint similar motifs.

Although the subjects of his art aren’t the specifically horses, his attention to detail and sheer passion for all of his subjects is clear.

One Comment on “The Horses of Peter Nicolai Arbo”

Equine art.
Not that much “passion”; I find his art to be very conventional, almost stodgy; but he is a good draughtsman. All his subjects are well-drawn; but they’re not passionate. He definitely has anatomy down.
Who sits like that on a horse that’s flying through the sky, and what horse is “on the bit” while flying?

I prefer John Charles Dollman’s painting of the Valkyries; much more exciting, and although it’s an imaginary subject, it’s done with more realism as it would be under those circumstances.

The Englishman George Stubbs’ paintings of horses – amazing, and even more so when you realize that (since he grew up in those surroundings) he shut himself up for a time with slaughtered horses, which he dissected, preserved with tallow – and produced incredible copper engravings of each layer of a horse’s anatomy, right down to the skeleton. 1700s.
He probably had an influence on and provided data for Arbo on equine anatomy. http://www.essentialart.com/acatalog/George_Stubbs_Whistlejacket.html